Everything's Not Peachy With Strawberry -- Ask New York Mets Fans

September 16, 1986|By Malcolm Moran,New York Times

NEW YORK — Up in Section 1, a few rows beneath the ascending airplanes above Shea Stadium, the hard-cores were savoring something new. Seats did not have to be saved hours before the first pitch. A cool playoff breeze was blowing. These people never had known a season like this.

Unlike the corporate types in their power ties and the yuppies who have invaded Flushing from their stronghold at the South Street Seaport, these people can appreciate what they are seeing. They once paid to see Mardie Cornejo and Sergio Ferrer.

It is September, and they can relax.

So why is Fuzzy fuming?

The gravel in his voice was growing loud enough to challenge the roar of the planes overhead. The subject was Darryl Strawberry, and Fuzzy was not pleased.

''He ain't hustling,'' Fuzzy said. (The name, inspired by a long black beard, is the only identification he offers.) ''He can't hit a left-hander for anything. He can't hit a curveball for anything.''

Fuzzy has something in common with the yuppies and the people with the power ties. They have lost patience. Suddenly, without the aid of the owner's bluster that has been known to incite crowds in the Bronx, they have decided by the thousands that it is time to climb on Strawberry's back. It has been nearly two weeks since the moment against the Dodgers, when a short-hop single was misplayed into a triple, that the fans made their Strawberry Statement. This week, the boos were not as piercing, but they lingered.

''The guy should be having the kind of numbers Mr. Parker is having in Cincinnati and had with Pittsburgh,'' Fuzzy said. ''Dave Parker has been playing crippled. That's your MVP. He hits lefties.''

Parker has known the sound of boos, and worse. Tom Seaver and Joe Namath have heard them in Shea Stadium, Walt Frazier in Madison Square Garden, Mickey Mantle at Yankee Stadium, Carl Yastrzemski in Fenway Park. ''Frankie and Mickey from Philly, they hate Mike Schmidt,'' Fuzzy said of two colleagues. ''They don't think he produces.''

How to translate Strawberry's raspberries? Is the sound an inevitable bullying tactic of New Yorkers with unreasonable demands? Is their jolt a plea for him to get moving? Has he become a designated scapegoat at the age of 24? Bill Graven of Levittown, N.Y., was not at the game the day Strawberry heard the most bitter-sounding complaints. ''But if I was here,'' he said, ''I would have done the same thing. You pay to see a guy who's making all that money, and he goes out and lolligags after a ball. You've got to boo the guy.''

And yet Graven's tone was supportive. He understands that one poor play does not affect a team with a runaway lead. ''But once the playoffs start, what happens if that happens?'' he asked. ''He's going to get booed. And I don't want to see that happen.''

The people don't like Strawberry's doing things that upset them. They cite his habit of holding the ball in right field, or the way he has allowed a runner to advance to second with a pointless throw to third. After Strawberry threw a runner out at the plate Tuesday night, Fuzzy complained about his failure to hit a cutoff man on the previous play.

They do not appreciate his inability -- some say unwillingness -- to adjust when the count reaches two strikes. ''You don't mind a person striking out if the guy makes a good pitch,'' said Tony Camerino of Yonkers. ''But he just stands there like a statue.''

And yet Camerino says he is on Strawberry's side. ''People may remember that he was hurt last year,'' Camerino said. ''They don't remember the play he made, when he dove.''

''I think the last two years, he has improved in the hustle department,'' said Don Nyer of Manhattan, who said he had attended 1,049 consecutive Met home games through Tuesday night, dating back to Aug. 21, 1973.

''When he got hurt and came back last year, he was like a different man,'' Nyer said. ''I think the Met management is partly to blame because they hyped him a lot. The fans are too hard on him. They weren't here when the team was a horror show. They're front-runners, is what they are. They don't see his good performances. Maybe they don't watch the games on TV. They can't remember the last time he had a big hit, so they say, 'This guy's making a million dollars, and he's terrible.' ''